All week long we've been sharing our photos of sites and sights we saw during our recent weekend tour of Southeast Chicago and Northwest Indiana. On Monday, we showed you the Gary, Indiana Public Schools Memorial Auditorium; on Tuesday, scenes from the Marktown Historic District; and yesterday, the cavernous insides of the abandoned City Methodist Church in Gary. We wrap up our series with a collection of miscellaneous shots from our adventures: A shot of the entrance to the "Heartbreaking Park of Staggering Greenness" that is southeast Chicago's Eggers Grove (pictured); the St. Simeon Mirotocivi Serbian Orthodox Church at 3535 E. 114th St.; the mound of salt that will one day end up decimated and dispersed on our city's icy streets; the Chinese restaurant in downtown Gary that had both "Grand Opening" and "For Sale" signs in its window; the Palace Theater across the street; a little bird that was hanging out at the Indiana Dunes; and some signs we spotted along the way. more ›

Designed by Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1917, East Chicago, Indiana's Marktown Historic District resembles a northern European village, except with smokestacks instead of windmills in the background. Referred to as the "Eighth Wonder of the World" by some, and the "Brigadoon of Industrial Housing Complexes" by others, the neighborhood is named after Clayton Mark — a manufacturer of well points who, like many of us, decided one day that he needed his own steel plant to more fully achieve his goals and dreams. So in 1916, he purchased some land and hired on Shaw to design a community for his prospective proles. Shaw was a star of the architecture world: He had worked for William LeBaron Jenny, designed homes for several rich Chicago families, and collaborated with Ralph Cram on the Fourth Presbyterian Church on N. Michigan Ave. The end result was a 40-acre area built in the English Tudor Revival style. more ›